BARCLAYS BANK has emerged as potential backers of an ambitious scheme to bring an international film studio complex to Wales.

The &#xA3;140m project, dubbed Valleywood, has been earmarked on the site of a former opencast mine at Llanilid, near Bridgend.

Subject to due diligence, Barclays would be the lead funder on the scheme, although it could look to syndicate out some of its financial commitment.

The company behind the project, Dragon International Film Studios, plans to offset the studio's construction costs by selling land next to the scheme for a variety of mixed commercial uses, including a proposed theme park, business park and housing.

There are also plans for a private hospital.

The scheme has also been offered what is believed to be &#xA3;6m in regional selective assistance from the National Assembly Government.

And Dragon International, which is being backed by Richard Attenborough, has not completely ruled out the option of locating the studio at the empty Hynix semiconductor plant at Newport.

The site, which is still owned by Hynix, is being marketed for reuse by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

However, the site is not large enough to accommodate the non film studio aspects of the scheme, which would have be located at Llanilid.

A spokesman for Barclays yesterday confirmed the bank is in talks with Dragon.

He said, "We would like to be involved and are in negotiations with Dragon International. There is still some way to go, but we hope to be able to make an announcement soon."